As the king of the animal world, the lion stands for battle and power.

In Western culture, the lion stands for fire, the sun, and gold.

When kings and people of authority wanted to display their wealth, power, and prestige to the outside world, they would place sculptures of lions at the entrances to their houses or in the palace garden. The lions informed everybody entering that this was the residence of an important person who demanded respect.

In Chinese culture , the lion is a symbol of protection for the entrance to a building. The lion pair always stands outside the front door to protect against bad luck entering the house.

At many places entrance gates that are guarded by lions are also called lion gates.